A dossier dilemma

From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

9/9/09, 9:02 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 8:58 PM CET

Where will Viviane Reding end up?

Continuity is the order of the day in Luxembourg where Viviane Reding is in line for a third term as European commissioner. Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has made it clear that he wants Reding to be given either the competition or the internal market portfolio in the next Commission, or an enlarged version of her current dossier, information society and media.

Officials believe that Barroso favours the third option, partly because a number of member states that are slightly larger than Luxembourg are desperate to get internal market or competition. Reding’s enlarged dossier would probably include responsibility for copyright issues – currently within the remit of the commissioner for the internal market.

Reding has in recent months set out some ambitions in this area, including reforms to help the digitisation of books. But a suggestion from Barroso that she might take over the communication dossier from Margot Wallström has not gone down well with Reding.